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PDN Acquires WPPI, After Capture, and Rangefinder

The evening of the PhotoPlus Expo Bash, on the USS Intrepid, it was announced by PDN that they (or, rather, their parent company, Nielsen) had acquired the publication Rangefinder, After Capture, and the trade Wedding and Portrait Photographer International (WPPI) trade show.

I've had the opportunity to attend both trade shows, and they couldn't be a more disparate group of people attending the PhotoPlus Expo and the WPPI show, so this seems like a solid move on Nielsen's part. As someone who has attended the PhotoPlus Expo for almost 20 years, and thinking it was the end-all-be-all of shows, it was enlightening (and refreshing) to see the group of photographers at the WPPI show, and, frankly, those photographers seemed far more focused on the business realities of photography than those at PhotoPlus. Further, the show's structure means that the seminars and show floor don't compete as much as they do at PhotoPlus.

Interestingly enough, WPPI had tried to expand their perceived market from weddings and portraits to a broader audience, when they attempted to change their trade show name to "World Imaging Expo." Seemed a good idea, no? Well, apparently, the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) didn't quite like that idea, and filed suit a few years back because of their trademarked trade show "Imaging Expo" and "Imaging USA" tradeshows. The suit - Professional Photographers of America, Inc. v. Rangefinder Publishing Co., CV08-02324 SVW, was filed in the Federal District Court of Los Angeles. (more info here).

I think that the acquisition by PDN's parent company does two things - it solidifies and consolidates two well known and well respected brands, and also signifies to people who thought that PDN was on borrowed time that the PDN brand will be around for the forseeable future.

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